Kill with a Borrowed Knife

Dōnghàn mònián, Cáo Cāo shìlì hěn dà, shēnbiān jùjíle xǔduō réncái.

At the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Cao Cao was very powerful and gathered many talented men around him.

Qízhōng yǒu ge míngshì jiào Mí Héng, cáihuá-héngyì, dàn píqì hěn huài, chángcháng dāngzhòng rǔmà biérén.

Among them was a famous scholar named Mi Heng, brilliant but hot-tempered, who often insulted others in public.

Mí Héng lián Cáo Cāo yě bú fàng zài yǎn lǐ, duō cì chūyán-bùxùn, ràng Cáo Cāo shífēn nǎohuǒ.

Mi Heng even disrespected Cao Cao himself, repeatedly speaking rudely, which made Cao Cao furious.

Cáo Cāo xiǎng chúdiào Mí Héng, yòu pà tiānxià dúshūrén mà tā, yúshì xiǎngchūle yì tiáo “jiè dāo” zhī jì.

Cao Cao wanted to get rid of Mi Heng but feared the scholars of the realm would condemn him, so he devised a “borrowed knife” plan.

Tā zhīdào Jīngzhōu de Liú Biǎo hé Jiāngxià tàishǒu Huáng Zǔ píqì bàozào, zuòshì bú gù hòuguǒ.

He knew that Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Huang Zu, the governor of Jiangxia, were short-tempered and rash.

Cáo Cāo jiù pài Mí Héng chūshǐ Jīngzhōu, míngyì shàng shì qǐng tā qù zuò guān, shíjì shì bǎ tā tuī xiàng huǒkēng.

Cao Cao sent Mi Heng as an envoy to Jingzhou; on the surface it was an invitation to serve, but in truth he was pushing him into the fire.

Liú Biǎo yě bú yuàn dān shā míngshì de èmíng, yòu bǎ Mí Héng zhuǎnsòng gěi Huáng Zǔ.

Liu Biao likewise refused to take the blame for killing a famous scholar, so he passed Mi Heng on to Huang Zu.

Huáng Zǔ shì ge jíxìngzi, Mí Héng zài tā miànqián zhàoyàng chūyán dǐngdàng, Huáng Zǔ yí nù zhī xià, zhēn de bǎ Mí Héng shā le.

Huang Zu was hot-headed; when Mi Heng talked back to him as usual, Huang Zu lost his temper and really killed him.

Cáo Cāo zìjǐ méiyǒu dòngshǒu, què jiè Huáng Zǔ zhī shǒu chúdiàole xīntóu zhī huàn, zhè zhèng shì “jiè dāo shā rén”.

Cao Cao never lifted a hand himself, yet through Huang Zu's hand he removed a thorn in his side — this is exactly “killing with a borrowed knife.”

Zhè tiáo jì tíxǐng wǒmen: yǒushíhou zuì wēixiǎn de rén bú shì chūshǒu de rén, érshì duǒ zài bèihòu shèjì de rén.

This stratagem reminds us: the most dangerous person is sometimes not the one who strikes, but the one designing the plot behind the scenes.

Bǐrú zài gōngsī lǐ, yǒurén gùyì tiǎobō tóngshì zhījiān chǎojià, zìjǐ què zhuāngzuò shénme dōu méi zuò.

For example, in an office, someone may quietly stir up a fight between coworkers while pretending they did nothing at all.

Suǒyǐ kàn shìqing bùnéng zhǐ kàn shéi dòng de shǒu, hái yào xiǎng yì xiǎng: dàodǐ shì shéi zài bèihòu “dì de dāo”.

So when judging a matter, don't only look at who swung the blow; ask yourself who really “handed over the knife” behind the scenes.